Report: Chip Kelly close to deal to coach Browns

Oregon coach Chip Kelly is close to a deal to become the Browns’ next head coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network is reporting.

Kelly has been the most talked-about coaching candidate in the NFL and was believed to have interviews lined up today with the Eagles and Bills as well as the Browns. He was widely regarded to be the top choice of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, and Haslam was reportedly willing to spend whatever it would take to acquire Kelly.

We’ve seen in recent days that the deals that are close don’t always get done, and Kelly hasn’t been hired yet. But it appears that the Browns are the leading suitors for a hot coaching candidate whose unconventional approach has worked wonders in college and is now ready to try his system in the NFL.

If you’re the Browns and have been so bad for so long, don’t you want to go out and lure in a guy with a proven track record? Instead, they’re going out and trying an experiment with a guy who’s never coached at any position in the NFL?

It’s almost too easy to predict that they’re looking for a new coach again 2 years from now.

No, we haven’t seen in recent days deals that are close don’t always get done because Reid was never close to becoming the Cardinals head coach. All that nonsense was reported before Reid even had an interview set up with AZ. The only true deal that was close was Reid to KC and that happened.

Definitely a start over situation. Taking a really big chance on his offense with no real QB to do his bidding. BUT GLAD HOLMGREN is gone. Remember when he showed up. Hurry up and brought in Jake Delhomme for millions, then quickly drafted Colt then brought in Seneca Wallace. I remember when the Steelers played the Browns that first year, a play they scored a TD on Holmgren with Seattle in the Super Bowl, they ran that play in Cleveland, and scored a TD. The media didn’t say a word about it !

Hopefully with the new ownership there will finally be some stability with the Browns. This will be the seventh head coach they have had since returning to the league. That is the same amount as the other three teams in the division have had during that time combined.

At Oregon, he could ‘draft’ four or five ‘first round picks’ each year for his particular system. It’s called high school recruiting. In the NFL? Not so much. He has an entire team of offensive players who were picked because they don’t suit his system. Where are his playmakers going to come from?

I think he’s a very dynamic college coach, and should have a chance in the NFL to see what he can do. But his style and scheme do not fit the current Browns roster, so I am perplexed by his decision. I would have expected him to try to land in Carolina with the very mobile Cam.

Can’t lose for Chip Kelly. I live in Oregon and like watching the Ducks and all, but his scheme seems to be the ultimate college scheme. Oregon is fast, everyone in the NFL is fast. But he’ll go to the NFL for a few years, not succeed, then go back to whatever college he wants when it doesn’t work out.

Is trent richardson even going to fit this system? And lmao brandon weeden is gone I guess. Poorest run organization in the NFL. But they got there guy, I applaud them for that. At least 2 years of rebuilding now on just the offensive side.

Kelly won’t use his college system in the NFL. He will adapt it to his players like he did at Oregon. Will be interesting to see what kind of system he can come up with in the pros. The Browns may be worth watching next year!

After watching the game last night, looking into his strategy and learning about the ‘Zeus’ supercomputer system I was really.. kinda.. sorta.. hoping he’d end up in Buffalo. Kelly gone, Reid gone… c’mon Lovie!

I respect your right to an opinion, but the Browns have gone the traditional route since we came back and where did that get us? Jimmy Haslam is a self made billionaire. I think at this point he deserves the right to try it his own way. Its not your old Browns any more!

Wow all the cleveland haters are out and ready to voice their opinion on how great their team/city is. Heres some Facts to chew on losers– eagles sucked this year. (Browns better record in a tougher division) now the bills who were also worse than the browns,they just sucked in every aspect. And hey doesnt carolina still have rivera? So how are the browns the worst choice for kelly? We have a pretty good D. The offense actually has playmakers richardson,gordon,little,benjamin,cribbs along with our solid o-line. Yes we need a qb weedens never been the answer and never will be. So we gotta find a new QB and The west coast offense obviously wont be here next year . So explain how the bills or eagles are a better fit for kelly. I believe we( the browns) have more cap room too. So kelly will have an easier time signing players to fit his style offense. Seems to me we are the Best Fit out of all the teams who were interested.

I think the Bills would be the best fit for Chip Kelly. C.J. Spiller would be really good in his system. Throw in stevie johnson and some other guys, it would be a good fit. I just don’t see how Trent Richardson and Weeden will benefit from a system like Kelly’s.

southridge23 says:
Jan 4, 2013 6:24 PM
Slow unproven qb, a rb who may look promising but I think is fair to say “slow” for a spread-option attack..josh cribbs was the closest thing to a wr but he’s bailing…have fun chipster!

You haven’t seen Josh Gordon or Travis Benjamin have you? Even Greg Little is starting to look like a solid receiver since he quit celebrating after every catch and stopped dropping passes like it was going out of style.

Maybe this is the spark this team needs. The past 14 years have been horrible with no enthusiasm coaches and very bad play calling. It surely couldn’t be any worse. A fresh start with an upgraded system. Time will only tell but l don’t think Haslam wants to miss on this coaching hire. The rest will work out with some personnel people and scouting staff who know what they’re doing. Let’s see what happens before we jump to any conclusions.

I honestly thought he would end up in Carolina. Obviously they aren’t totally happy with Rivera there, and Kelly’s system with Cam Newton? That would have been fun to watch.

In Cleveland though, he is obviously going to have to develop a young QB to fit his system and until then he will need a stopgap kind of guy for this year. A QB with legs who doesn’t really have a job right now….Tebow or Vick, take your pick and suffer with it for a year I guess. Sorry, Browns fans.

Big move by the Browns. To all those making snide comments – get a clue: this is a new owner, a new front office, and a brand new coach. Why shouldn’t it be different? Unless you’re an idiot you might actually expect it to be.

So congrats to the Browns, who are getting an awesome coach and leader. This is their big moment. Let’s simply admit it rather than act like jealous girlfriends.

So so perfect. For years I’ve had to listen to Oregon fans mouth off about how Kelly’s high-flying offenses could beat the SEC’s hard-knocking defenses (even though the SEC has plucked Kelly’s Ducks in every big contest). Now I can watch Kelly’s high-flying offenses go against the Steelers’ and Ravens’ defenses–not to mention the rejuvenated Bengals–twice a year. This is gonna be fun 🙂

What do all the teams currently in the NFL Playoffs have in common? A coach with at least some NFL experience. I wasn’t huge fans of Shurmur or Mangini but you’re telling me Chip Kelly is going to right this ship in 2 years?

I hope I’m eating my words, but this seems like a young Daniel Snyder type of hire. When Snyder finally put his ego aside and hired a real NFL coach, it did wonders for the Redskins.

I realize the Browns have pretty much stunk since reentering the league, but I’ll now officially give Randy Lerner some credit. At least he made hires with NFL pedigree. At least he didn’t try to do a football job he knew he wasn’t qualified for. Now you’ve got Banner & Haslam trying to do a job they aren’t really qualified for.

Once again, I hope I’m wrong, but I have a feeling this will keep Cleveland in the cellar for a while.

This has failure written all over it. So, you’re going to bring in Chip Kelly and his system to a team that just used two 1st round picks last year drafting players at the QB and a RB at 3rd overall no less and those two players do not even fit his system? Not to mention the fact that the 2nd round pick they spent on Josh Gordon that he will be without so he will have even more trouble bringing in guys to fit his system. He is also coming from college to the NFL, a completely different environment without the benefit of getting great recruits and bringing in a college spread system that likely will not work well in the NFL, because although we had some really good mobile QBs in Griffin and Wilson this year, they don’t come around too often playing that well. This is a terrible move, and as much as I dislike Whisenhunt (I live in Arizona so I watch a lot of Cardinals games), I actually find him to be the best man for this job with that personnel. A smart QB with pretty good deep ball accuracy, A great LT in Joe Thomas, a good center in Alex Mack, and a promising young RT in Mitchell Schwartz. Trent Richardson is a good power back which is the kind of backs Whiz likes to work with and Josh Gordon did show flashes last season and Greg Little, if he can get rid of those stone-hands, could be a very solid #2 receiver. Kelly would be a TERRIBLE hire for this team and as much as I hate to say it, this team is perfectly set up for Ken Whisenhunt and I strongly believe that his system would be able to get the most out of the players there.

I don’t know how anyone could think that the browns have a better team than the bills … Coaching was why the bills were bad. Not the roster. The roster is loaded with talent and with a good coach you will see a very different team. If they can resign key pieces like jabirus Byrd and Levitre and mckelvin . Sorry to other teams looking for coaches but the bills would have to be the most appealing job to me. The eagles a very close second.

Long story short: Kelly doesn’t really have a conventional “system” that he is wedded to. It’s more strategic than tactical with Kelly – more about tempo and philosophy than it is about pure Xs and Os.

It is one thing to have legitimate doubts Kelly’s chances in the NFL, quite another to be totally ignorant of what you are criticizing.

I expect Kelly to be a tremendous success. For the first time since Eric Mangini was here, the Browns are relevant again!

I only wish that he could/would take Uncle Phil with him. I’m all for supporting your school – Phil has taken it a bit far in my opinion. And yes, I stopped buying Phil’s gear many years ago. No point in filling the enemy’s coffers. T. Boon – there’s another one. Many schools have them – it just seems that a few go too far. If you want to own a team, just go out and buy one – at the professional level.

hmm.. andy reid is taking over in kansas city and they have the first picl in the draft. all signs point to tom heckert joining him. weederns not goi f to work out in kellys offense and cleveland needs to get a qb that can run and throw the ball. tom heckert drafted weeden in cleveland and they castle and quinn arent the answer for kc. anyone see a trade in the mix for the number one overall pick? weeden and a few more picks to go from 6 to 1 and grab geno smitj.

Haslem is all in this year, he is willing to spend money on players and coaches. To say that this is a bad move is really premature. We don’t know what kind of moves the will make in the draft and in offseason.
Weeden may be gone but he could still run his offense in a hybrid system.

He’ll follow in the footsteps of Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban: go to the NFL, find out after a few years that their systems don’t work in the pros, then jet on back to college to a big time program and a big fat paycheck.

My local radio and others were thinking he should of gone to Philly, but I think Cleveland has potential… They have some talent, good O-line, good RB, some WR’s, and some talent on D-line & CB… He could be a real good fit provided he gets an experienced defensive coordinator who can take care of that side of the ball … How about Greg Williams if he were reinstated? Seriously, He was here in DC & ran the defense without any oversight from Joe Gibbs. He just might want to tone down the “killing of the head” comments.

Browns should try to trade down, draft Tavon Austin late first and Tajh Boyd – if he comes out – early 2nd. EJ Manuel also an option. Arguably if they dump both Weeden and McCoy via trade, they could emulate the Skins and draft 2 QBs – Boyd and Manuel and have a competition for the job, though former QB TV analysts would wring their hands over such a move.

I’m sorry but I am not buying this story for one bit…There is not even news about it reported from ESPN. And usually ESPN is the 1st to report something like this. ESPN was the 1st to announce that Andy Reid was close to a deal with Kansas City and today it was official…I mean its kinda hard to buy a story when no other sports websites besides profootballtalk and cbssports are the only 2 websites that are talking about this…I think I will actually believe this story when ESPN announces this.

Haters are going to hate..Not sure what some of you losers are going to do when the Browns are consistently good. I’m not sure if Kelly will work out, it’s always a crapshoot but after retreads and assistants that have no business being Head Coaches, this is a fresh direction worth taking a chance on. No one in the division will be familiar with this Offense and will be too old and slow to keep up. Hope he works out but I guarantee some of you haters would be pumped if he was coaching your team or wouldn’t be ragging on it if he was going to another team. You just love to hate on Cleveland and the Browns, get it on while you can. Have a nice day. By the way, our owner is friggin loaded and we have a crap ton of cap room. Look for New Uniforms and possibly Metallic Helmets and Grassmaster turf. Talks are already in the works for a retractable roof. Get ready for the new looking Browns in more ways than one.

The Pac-12 has put out some good college coaches the last few years so don’t sell him short because he is a college guy.

Plus, and this will sound crazy, Cleveland isn’t as bad as most of you think. Yes, in terms of being a fan…they are the worst. But their current roster isn’t that far away from competing. It’s not like they have the Raiders roster or something.

For Kelly to be successful the Browns will need to rebuild their entire offensive roster and learn the NFL while doing it. Generally speaking pro coaches don’t have time and a few average draft or injuries will doom him. The Browns need a new QB, several O linemen, a couple of tight ends, and wideouts. All with speed to burn. Good luck Chip, like Bill you will succeed in your second job.

Two observations about all the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals fans (and whoever else) that are all screaming “FAIL!” over the possibility of Kelly coaching the Browns.

1. If their teams were hiring a HC this year, and Kelly looked to be ‘the guy’, they’d all be singing his praises and would be convinced he’s gonna work out for their teams. Fact.

2. It doesn’t matter who the Browns hire as coach. They’d still scream “fail.” Vince Lombardi could return from the gave, Belichick could defect from NE, Cowher could decide he wants in. They’d all be fools destined for failure according to the commenters here. Fact.

Everyone who’s not a Browns fan hates this news. Browns fans love it. How can an offense with imagination, that fits the talent on the roster be bad? The Browns have some of the best young talent in the NFL. Even Cowherd on ESPN mentioned that they should be expected to make the playoffs next year. They are closer than everyone thinks! Kelly sees that too or he wouldn’t take the job. He’s not an idiot. Idiots don’t make the meteoric rise as he has done.

“close to deal” doesn’t mean done deal yet. Hopefully, it does come to fruition. Will be exciting to see if Chip can mesh his style of offense to work in the NFL. I don’t expect it to look exaclty like it did at oregon, he is a smart guy and will tinker it to work with the speed and defenses he will be up against. Still exciting for browns fans, and will bring some primetime coverage next year. If he is even half as successful in cleveland as he was at oregon, it will still equal many playoff appearances, and who knows maybe a superbowl. Look out Ratbird, Bungle, and Squeler fans, the Browns will be back atop the AFC North before you know it.

This is either the smartest or dumbest move ever for Cleveland. In trying to establish a baseline for a competitive team, you hire a guy that has no NFL experience. Yes, Chip Kelly’s teams have been good at Oregon, but the NFL and College are night and day. Different style of play, different personnel management, different expectations. This should be interesting to see how it plays out.

Browns will regret not giving Shurmur more time. They had begun to turn the corner. Take away the mandate to bench guys in Week 17 and they had been competitive and/or been winning over the second half of the season. Just get a real QB and they have the offensive weapons. The defense is solid enough with a couple of additions via free agency and a good draft.

You are all missing a valuable point. When Haslam was being questioned about the next coach, he was asked what is the most important thing he is looking for- he said quickly and with conviction- “leadership”. He has been doing his due diligence on Kelley since he handed over that billion dollar check to Randy Lerner. He’s not looking for experience, he’s looking for leadership and Kelley has that. Quality leadership and motivation can succeed where experience is lacking. I’m glad to see we have an owner finally using some business sense!

You people don’t know what you’re talking about. Do some quick research online, you’ll get an idea of what Chip Kelly is about. He isn’t about the spread, read option offense. He used that offense at Oregon because that offense fit the talent. If he had the personnel for a power I offense then that’s what he would run. You’ll probably see some elements of the spread offense, but he had already said there are several adjustments he would need to make for the NFL.

Basically, he designs an offense around what talent he has. Is Weeden the right qb for him? Maybe not. But he’s the kind of coach that can maximize what strengths a qb has.

Kelly could be a revolutionary force in the NFL or an outright disaster. I don’t see him hanging around and playing conservative, traditional ball if his bags ‘o’ tricks don’t translate we’ll to the big league.

Wow, Browns just dont get it. Dont blame Kelly, I would take it and get my 3 years in. Knowing these blowhard owners today, he might be fired in 1 year. We will laugh at Kelly which is wrong. You should laugh at the person who hired him.

From the moment I heard that Chip Kelly was interested in coaching in the NFL I knew the Browns would hire him. This will be your typical Browns coaching disaster. The Browns just have a tradition for hiring the wrong coaches

I can’t see how so many people are saying Kelley’s offense won’t work in the NFL…..IT IS WORKING IN THE NFL! Redskins and Seahaxks running similar versions right now……Eagles ran a similar version in 2010….Wlecome to the future people…..

Deb:
Not all Steelers fans are blinded by love for the rockstar quarterback. Some of us are disgusted that Roethlisberger, after nine seasons in the league, continues to be well below average.
It might be asking too much of the Steelers defense to be ranked No. 1 for a third straight season in 2013…
However, asking Roethlisberger to start actually earn his 100 million dollars by actually putting up elite numbers (35 to 40 touchdown passes) is not out of the question.
The Steelers’ offense scored 30 or more points just once this season. The Browns’ offense scored 30 or more points twice.
Some of us are simply tired of the defense doing all the heavy lifting.

Not sure why everyone keeps saying his “system.” If your baïve to think that he’ll run the identical offense at Oregon he will in the NFL, keep the hope alive. It has proven to not work as an every down offensive system.

eaglelover1 – skins and hawks run “modified” read-option Os, not the entire system. Any QB (including Cam as he the largest man running a piece of it or Tebow for that matter) would get crushed in it with the size and speed of the NFL.

It’s a gimmic system that has a place and parts of it will evolve to the NFL game much like the Walsh West Coast Offense, Belichick spread O and the Norv Turner downfield passing game.

eaglelover1 says:
Jan 5, 2013 5:36 AM
I can’t see how so many people are saying Kelley’s offense won’t work in the NFL…..IT IS WORKING IN THE NFL! Redskins and Seahaxks running similar versions right now……Eagles ran a similar version in 2010….Wlecome to the future people…..

31-18 for those 3 teams (including the Eagles getting smoked in the playoffs by the Packers)

So that “system” should be good enough for 10 wins a year – IF you have the players to execute it.

why would anyone want the Browns job?? Well Coltsfan, Thr Browns had one of the toughest schedules in the NFL last year and did not get blown out and were close other than the Giants game,Ohh and by the way if Gordon doesnt lose that ball in the shadows and drop that TD they would have beaten your Colts as well. The Colts are not as good they as they look as they squeaked out numerous games, and The Browns are not as bad as their schedule as well.

The Redskins and Seahawks don’t run “modified” read-option O’s, they run zone read packages. The Redskins run a pretty big portion of Chris Ault’s offense, though. Which is different then the offense that Chip ran at Oregon. Which is different then what Carroll runs in Seattle. Just because a team runs the same play or similar play and runs counters/passes off of it doesn’t mean it’s all that the same or similar.

Dude you not really comparing Those teams and QBs with what the Browns have?? With Weeden?? No way that system works with that team and that QB. The Ducks have track stars playing football..another reason they don’t last in the NFL on Offense or Defense. C’mon Mann

Funny to read through these comments and see how many Browns fans were commenting as if the deal was DONE! Lol, now a day later, he has lunch with the Eagles which lasts until almost 10 p.m., standing up the Browns brass for dinner. Browns officially announce they’re out, Bills hire Marrone, so its down to Eagles or Oregon. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, browns fans(especially the guy who actually said the Browns already hired Kelly, lol).